BOOK I\'. XXXI. 2-xxxii. 4 



When so cared for it is cut finally in its fourth year. 

 For the willow which is prepared for bindings may 3 

 be cut off when it is one year old, at about two and a 

 half feet above ground, so that it may send out 

 branches from the trunk and be arranged in arms like 

 a low vine ; but if the ground has been rather dry, it 

 will be cut back preferably at the age of two years. 



XXXIL The reed " is planted in ground that is not 

 worked so deep, though it is better to plant it with 

 the two-foot spade. Although it is very hardy and 

 does not refuse any situation, it succeeds better when 

 put in loose soil than in compact ; better in a damp 

 place than in a dry one ; better in valleys than on 

 hillsides ; and on river banks and in bordei's and 

 thickets better than in midfield. Its bulbous root 2 

 is planted, as also truncheons of the cane ; and 

 again the whole reed is laid flat in the ground. 

 The bulb, when buried with three-foot spaces be- 

 tween, yields a full-grown stalk in less than a year. 

 The truncheon and the whole reed are longer than 

 the aforementioned time in coming to maturity. 

 But whether truncheons of two and one-half feet 

 are planted, or entire reeds laid flat, their tops 

 should extend above ground ; because, if they are 

 entirely buried, they rot completely. But the culture 3 

 of the reed thicket, for the first three years, is not 

 different from that of the other thickets. Later, 

 when it has become old, the ground must be trenched 

 again. And this is its old age, when it has either 

 dried up completely because of many years of 

 decadence and sloth, or has become so crowded that 

 the reeds grow up slender and cane-like. But in 4 

 the former case it should be dug up again from the 



» Cf. Pliny, N.H. XVIT. 144-146. 



455 



